Law to the Lawless
by angel eyes1 uk
Summary: AN ENTRY FOR THE VOLTURI FANFICTION CHALLENGE. Demetri, Heidi and Felix follow an errant nomad to deal out Volturi justice. The burn of thirst diverts Demetri from the chase. Demetri POV, violence, no lemons. One shot. Rated R.


_A One Shot for the My Vamp Fiction "Volturi Fanfiction Challenge"_

**I own and claim nothing, just the satisfaction of sharing words with others. The Volturi are loyal only to Stephenie Meyer.**

_Thank you to Javamomma0921 and Lulabelle for betaing this little one shot._

~X~

We travelled as a threesome, my friend on my right shoulder and my lover on my left. Alone we were fearsome, handpicked by those keen enough to recognise our values—unequalled strength, irresistible suggestion and unwavering pursuit. As a trio we were a triple-headed Nemesis, bringing our masters' justice to those who stood in the way of their ambition.

I had been given entry to a world of endless "take." The only payment required of me was my unswerving loyalty and obedience. I gave my all, and took all I could. No morality guided us, those who brought the law to the lawless, and a final ending to the undead.

Like the arrow of a compass, I pointed us toward a condemned vampire as we pursued him through the night. The tone of his mind alerted me to the slightest shift in his course. There was no escape for the cursed; I would follow him to the end of the earth if so commanded.

My mind swam with an endless chorus of sound. The blanket of noise was not the music of salvation, but the murmurings of consciousness both higher and lower. In a world of constant waking there was no respite for me—no drowning of the wordless, sleepless voices that sang without cease. It had been both my blessing and my curse for endless centuries.

I was able to concentrate on the tone of one mind and find its simple harmony, as if it were a single instrument amongst the orchestra. Once I had heard its music the instrument could not escape me. If required, I would follow the musician and locate where they played, no matter how many hundreds or thousands of miles stretched between. I was the greatest tracker ever known, although the term did not express the fine tuning of the process accurately.

My talent recommended me, and I became a jewel in the crown of three dark princes. They were known among our kind for their refinement and taste for the exceptional. With stealth and subterfuge they had proclaimed themselves the kings of all blood-drinkers.

To be one of the undead was to subject yourself to the Volturi's rule. Their commandments were not many, and only one was enforced above all others—never reveal yourself to a human and allow them to live to tell the tale. It was a crime punishable by immediate death.

Not all were willing to be conquered, many were ignorant, and at times circumstance conspired against the innocent. Regardless of the reasoning, swift justice was applied. To be lenient bred dissent, so no quarter was ever given.

I now followed the fearful, erratic voice of a nomad. He had allowed himself to hunger beyond the point of self-control and had taken a child from a crowd in broad daylight. He committed the only unforgiveable vampire sin—he had been seen for what he was by human eyes. He ran because he knew he would have no trial; his sentence was already decided.

One of us would take his left arm, another would take his right, and as the highest ranking I would claim the head. Crystal would shatter and an after-life would be ended. Swirling indigo smoke would signal the passing of a sinner into the abyss—this was the fate that awaited us all, should our time on earth be terminated prematurely.

I did not revel in the violence of my actions like my imposing comrade, Felix. Our personalities were as oil and water, yet despite our differences we defied nature and became firm friends. We would never change; our natures were as frozen in time as our physical forms.

The hulking tower of a vampire, who spent the endless centuries serving alongside me, had been taken from the battlefield during a time of war. His size, strength, and physical prowess had been amplified, and the effective human warrior was now a brutal vampire soldier. One did not need to look too deeply to see that he was to be feared.

If faced with both of us, as offenders of Volturi law often were, it would seem an obvious choice to engage myself in combat rather than Felix. I was considerably shorter and less bulky than he—a dwarf in comparison—yet if examined on my own, I was still powerfully built and toned. My approach was less obvious, more cold, calculating, and unexpected. I was as efficient a killer as my sizeable friend; David and Goliath, this time fighting for the same side. We kept order and killed the conspicuous.

I had come from a very different background. Born to wealthy parents, I had been spoiled and indulged from an early age. I was lazy but ambitious, and keen to retain a life of privilege and status. Arrogance stemmed from this lifestyle, but I was educated and my voice could beguile any politician. That was how I had remained through the ages.

My potential as a tracker had been recognised while I was still human, and I was approached and given a choice—I had chosen eternal life.

I felt the lick of the flames for three days, while I was transformed from the life of the natural to the waking death of the unnatural. It had been the teeth of a prince that changed me, but the arms of a fallen angel delivered me from my burning second birth. That angel ran with me now.

Heidi—hair dark and rich as the soil, flesh as white and smooth as polished marble, and limbs as graceful as a tree in the wind. So perfect in form that when the morning star rose and was lit by the rising sun, it could not compete with her heavenly body. Flawless diamonds would refract the light on her skin, and make Venus seem as pale and green as the moon.

I abandoned my heathen worship of intangible gods to pray at the altar of the terrible temptress beside me. To those of flesh and blood she was a wanton, hungry deity, but for me she was the embodiment of all things pure and desirable. I loved her.

We endured through unholy means, the only redemption being the joy of having this angelic demon by my side. Consuming the life of others had condemned us to hell, but that fate was postponed indefinitely. We raised our glasses in abandonment while we could and drank sin until we were sated.

The memory of the taste of blood set my throat alight and I felt distracted.

I heard a cacophony of minds to the east, which I recognised as human, and so I shifted direction. My companions changed their course and continued in my wake. I met their gaze as I ran; one look at my obsidian eyes told them the reason for our diversion—I needed to feed.

They followed me to the outskirts of a small town, nestled in undulating Italian countryside. The night was dark, and the air hot and humid on our cold, dry skin. We slipped silently through the shadows, until we came upon a gathering of people in the town square. The reverberating pulse of their hearts fragranced the air and my blackened eyes narrowed.

We could not simply pounce and drink; we were bound by the law we upheld to stay hidden from view from all except those about to be sacrificed to our thirst. As in nature, there was safety in numbers, and the weak or those who wandered away from the pack would be fair game for predators.

Felix and I crouched in a dark alleyway while Heidi stepped into the artificial light of the square and headed towards the crowd. The instinctive side of the humans cowered away from her as she weaved through them, yet their eyes were drawn by her beauty. I could not blame them—she was a sight to behold.

She approached a group of four girls sitting around a table. "Follow me." Her commanding tone reached my ears from across the distance.

The young girls instantly got to their feet and fell into line behind her. To those who watched, it would seem that they were acquainted with the dark-haired Aphrodite.

The truth was that my lover was a pied piper, and it was impossible for any human not to comply with her request. It was the reason her services were retained by the Volturi, as hunting was beneath vampire royalty. Heidi delivered their sustenance to them directly—fresh, warm, and with fear in their eyes.

As a private joke we called it fishing. It was an easy and one-sided sport; she simply dangled her tempting line in water and reeled in her hapless prey. Like fish, the humans could not struggle against the invisible net that dragged them along until they were lifted above the waterline and realised the inevitable.

The waterline was the point where the alley became cloaked from view by shadow and where certain death awaited. Once they stepped inside and saw their fate they would flounder, struggle, and gasp for air.

"Demetri, _mi amore_," Heidi whispered. "I have brought you a gift. For Felix, I have two."

There was no time to scream—we were swift, silent assassins. The bodies would never be found, and the authorities would never find the mysterious woman who was last seen with the four missing girls. I did not feel any pang of conscience as that was the nature of the food chain. One animal existed to feed another. It was a fact of life...and death.


End file.
